Observant Eyes and Orange Skies
by SpazzyLassy105
Summary: Tsuna is mute because of an 'unknown' past experience. Reborn decides to do some research to find out why. Only problem is, Tsuna is a lot trickier than anyone expected, and Reborn can't find anything about him besides the usual Dame-Tsuna comments. The only way to learn anything now is to gather information from observation, and Reborn does NOT like what he sees. 'T' for violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry for everyone who's waiting for the Jack Frost drabbles update, but my muse has decided to drink coffee and is currently ricocheting around in my skull. Again, sorry 'bout that, ahahaha…okay, whatever. KHR fans, enjoy!**

0x0x0

_Something isn't right…_Tsuna blinked himself awake. Something bad was going to happen. He had learned long ago to trust his instincts, and right now they were screaming at him to be ready. _Ready for what?_ He asked. His instincts didn't answer. They only rang themselves louder inside his head. _Okay, okay, tone it down a bit. You're going to give me a headache. _They rang softer for him. He had tried for a long (long, long, long) time to hold a conversation with his instincts, but he had recently developed a new hypothesis. Tsuna had used to think that his instincts were sentient, but now he wasn't so sure…

Tsuna sighed mentally and pushed the covers off of his legs so that he could get up. His foot lightly touched the floor, and he hissed in surprise. The cold wood slithered against his toes, and Tsuna squashed the urge to lift his foot and curl up until it was warm again. He put his other foot out and caught his balance when it caught on the end of the bed. Tsuna silently pushed the door of his room open and snuck down the stairs. He started making breakfast for his family. Mama came in a few minutes later, graciously taking the omelet her son had made for her. She smiled in appreciation and thanked him with quietly. Mama took a bite of the food…and promptly melted into a puddle of goo on the floor, murmuring happily.

Tsuna shook his head with a small smile and picked up the vacuum. His mother's liquid form entered the contraption and he hit the 'eject' button. When his mother was rejected from the vacuum, she was human again, smiling and eating the omelet he had made. Tsuna's instincts murmured to him warningly. His head tilted to the left a bit before he spun around on his heel, pressing the stop button and lifting the pan off of the oven before it could even beep. Mama blinked at him in surprise at the sudden action, but if Tsuna noticed, he didn't comment. Tsuna gently put the omelet on the plate and sprinkled some salt over the top. He then carefully lifted the plate and walked up the steps, making sure not to trip and let the plate fall. Tsuna knocked on the door to his brother's room, squeezed his eyes shut, and went inside. He put the plate of food on Kane's bedside table and gently shook the older twin awake. "Wassat? Oh, it's you. Hey, who said you could come in here? Get out of my room!" Tsuna was shoved roughly outside the door as it slammed shut in his face. He scrunched his nose, thinking _Well isn't that a wham, bam, thank you ma'am situation. Err, man. Whatever. Wait, wait, wait – doesn't that relate to a one night stand? Oh, eeew… don't even think about that. Eeew…_

**A/N: Just consider this a teaser. I know that there are a lot of these already out there, but I wanted to try one for myself. Sorry if it gets boring, but I'm going to try and use my creative license to make it interesting. I don't wanna have it just be a re-run of sixty ****_other_**** fics out there, y'know?**


	2. Chapter 1 For Real This Time

**A/N: Hey everybody…I'm so sorry. I'm not even going to list any of the million excuses I could give you. Just know that I am a procrastinator and that this will probably happen a lot. And I noticed something…I do a lot of trying to personalize things, don't I? I mean Jack's Wind and now Tsuna's instincts (intuition). Hmmmm… **

**Now, For Review Answers!**

** To Yorutsuki-Lunia: Thanks! And I'm not sure about the yaoi…they ****_are _****only in middle school, after all, but it's definitely a possibility. Not concrete, but still an option. Heck, I don't even know if I'm going to do ****_any _****pairings yet…this basically writes itself. I have nothing planned, ahaha…**

**To iKitsuNeko: Hah, me neither! As said before, I have absolutely no idea where this is going…ask my muse at 1-800-449-6648. (Please don't, heehee. That's actually just a random collection of numbers)**

**To Maya-chan2007: Thanks! That made my day J**

**To Guest: Well, I hope you know what to think of it now! And if you don't, just let me know.**

**To Guest: Thanks! I TRY to make things interesting, at least. Glad that that's working out!**

**Anyway, I STILL haven't written Jackie's encounter with Pitch and Sandy, so please be distracted by this chapter while I take an insanely long amount of time to write that, 'kay? 'Kay. Let's do this, peoplez!**

0x0x0

Tsuna slipped quietly into his seat, which was placed conveniently in the very back row. Next to a window. Away from everyone else. Wouldn't want to catch the Dame Disease, after all. It would be such a loss. Tsuna shook his head softly to clear it of such mean thoughts and tried to distract himself by staring at the window. Eventually, his eyes slipped shut as he fell into a peaceful slumber.

The teacher's voice lightly scolding Yamamoto-san for talking brought Tsuna back into consciousness. Had he had fallen asleep? Tsuna scrambled for a notebook, since a pencil was already wedged behind his ear, and rushed to copy down the problem on the whiteboard.

Okay, so he'd fallen asleep. That happened all the time! So…he must've been out for a while if he had missed so much. But, really, how long could he have been asleep? A very long time, if his classmates' snickers were anything to go by.

_"So late, Dame-Tsuna," "Wow, what an idiot." "Doesn't he know how to do anything right?" _and then, from his own brother, "_Well, it's not like this is anything new for him, yeah? But I wish he wouldn't be so stupid sometimes…it makes me feel like such a terrible brother. I shouldn't think those things about him! But I do…"_

_"LIAR!"_ Tsuna wanted to scream, as girls hung all over his brother, sympathizing with him as the boys nodded sadly and patted his back in reassurance. Its okay, they said, he's an idiot. He probably doesn't even know what you're saying. Don't feel bad because of _him._

Tsuna flushed beet red, ducking his head and pretending to shuffle through his bag for something so that they didn't see the tears glistening in his eyes. _You can come back later, _he pleaded, _but right now they can't see you. Just give me some time. _They grudgingly receded, pulling back so that Tsuna could finally sit up.

He fiddled with the hem of his shirt so that he didn't have to listen to their comments. Then, when that lost his interest, he started chewing on his finger. Tsuna focused on the pain of the first few bites, then the numbness, and kept on chewing. A couple of minutes later (the teacher had come back in and begun to teach once more) he stopped chewing and waited for the bubble of thin skin that would soon rise.

Ah, there it was. He waited and listened to the teacher for a few more minutes so that the skin could rise some more before attacking it again, pulling the thin layer away with his teeth so that his flesh was exposed. He admired the pink color – too deep of too shallow for blood, he didn't know – before flexing his finger and wincing at the pull on the rest of his skin. Tsuna slapped a band aid on the finger and continued listening to the lesson. (1)

Lunch break rolled around a couple of hours later, forcing Tsuna to pass the people whispering about it on his way to the roof. It was a quiet place, like him – lonely, never thought about. It was also one of his favorite places to just sit and think. Or, sometimes, try _not _to think. The only problem with his safe haven was that he had to pass by multiple corridors and hallways, all filled to the brim with jeers and taunts. Anything from his intelligence to his looks were – and have been – targeted every time he walked in these halls. The nameless, faceless people who spouted these things didn't matter, but that _one _did matter.

Tsuna sometimes thought that he was a masochist, because even though it ripped him to shreds and flung him about every which way every time he hear it, his brother's voice was always sought out, always payed attention to, _always believed. _It's a shame that the liquid words strung from hate and left to dry with jealousy never had anything nice to say.

They twisted and turned inside Tsuna's skull every time his sensitive ears picked them out from the crowd, picking them apart and trying to just see _why. Why _did Kane hate him so much, _why _were such things said in deliberate loudness, just so that he would hear them, so that they could wreck his insides? But _why, _most of all, if he was such a worthless brother, such a waste of space…why did Kane take the time to belittle him and riddle his heart with little holes that would connect like spider webs, spreading all throughout until he broke into a million little pieces and blown all over by the wind?

Tsuna mused on that as he picked his way through the crowd, ignoring the words as he made sure to let nothing of what he was thinking show on his face. They would pry on that, he knew. Stay strong, don't break until you're alone, don't let them know that it gets to you, _never ask for help. _Give it. Give it as much as you can, but never ask for it. And if it is offered, decline. Politely, gently, so that they won't feel bad. (But honestly, who would try to help him? Pathetic little excuse of a human that he was, who would help Dame-Tsuna? No one. So he didn't know why - or how - that last rule applied, but whatever. Contingency plans for contingency plans, right?)

A kick to the back of the legs wretched Tsuna out of his (admittedly morbid) thoughts. It didn't scare a noise out of him though – he was too used to people trying to scare him into screaming (or beat him into screaming. Keh, bullies). Tsuna merely collected his things and tried to get the heck out of dodge before they got angry about his nonresponsiveness.

"Oi, you brat-" kick, "don't ignore me!" punch, "I'll teach you-" hair pull, "what it's like to feel pain." slap, "You shouldn't disrespect your _betters._" punch.

_ Betters? _Tsuna wanted to snarl, _maybe if I see one. _

Instead he settled for spitting in the guy's face.

Tsuna figures he got his point across.

Whispers instantly swallow any other noise. Did Dame-Tsuna really just spit in someone's face? _Sweet, passive, nice-till-you-choke Dame-Tsuna? _No, it couldn't be. Their eyes had to have deceived them! But the wad of spit slowly making its way across the bully's cheekbone proved otherwise. Tsuna took the opportunity of their stunned disbelief to wrench himself from the boy's grasp and flee.

He didn't get too far, of course, until they caught up with him, but it was the fact that he got away that made the boys furious. Tsuna ducked his head and curled up in grim expectation. He'd gone home with stab wounds for less, and was expecting this one-sided fight to get _pretty _ugly.

It wasn't until the bullies were almost done with him that Yamamoto-san showed up. Because of is ducked head, Tsuna didn't see Yamamoto-san walk in on the scene, nor did he see the mild horror that played upon his face before he reeled his emotions in and schooled himself. He did, however, notice when Yamamoto-san's dark voice floated into his ear, "_What _is going on here?"

The bullies tried to stammer an excuse and make it look like Tsuna wasn't there at the same time. It wasn't every day that you saw Takeshi get angry, and when you did, it normally meant bad things for you.

Very bad things.

_"Get away from him," _Yamamoto-san positively snarled.

The group of kids – including Tsuna – blinked at him in confusion. Why would he want to protect Dame-Tsuna? Why would he stand up for the most no-good, useless person on the planet?

Some people scowled or threw one last glare at Tsuna, but they eventually dissipated after Yamamoto started glaring at _them. _By the time Takeshi had turned around to help Tsuna up, the kid was already gone, leaving nothing but a pool of blood in his wake.

0x0x0

Tsuna, body screaming in agony, ruffled through his bag and grasped a full- scale first-aid kit. Opening the clasp and cleaning his wounds with broken fingers was torture, but getting them infected was even worse, so Tsuna figured that the pain was worth it. He wrapped the wounds, made splits for the brokens (as he had started calling them), and went on his way to lunch.

He had run from Yamamoto-san the second he had the chance. It had been horrible, running with such an injured form, but Tsuna honestly thought that Yamamoto=san's social status was more important. If the baseball star was seen doing anything more for Tsuna, who knew how far he would fall on the social latter?

So he had left. Probably not the smartest option, but hey, Tsuna was infamous for his idioticy. And now, apparently, he had selfishness issues.

_ Honestly, _he scolded himself, _spitting in that boy's face was _not _the solution to your problem. That was mean. You are going to go and apologize to him as soon as he cools down a bit and doesn't try to kill you. _

Tsuna honestly didn't know how he was going to apologize, what with the whole mute thing, but he'd figure that out later. Right now he had a mystery to solve.

Tsuna unknowingly tilted his head to the side just a little bit as he mused over this unusual occurrence. _What, _exactly, had just happened? What was Yamamoto-san thinking, to risk his status like that just to help him, the lowly Dame-Tsuna?

He didn't know.

Okay, next question.

_Why _would Yamamoto-san do that?

He didn't know that either.

Tsuna growled at himself softly. Why was he so utterly clueless?

Oh, wait, he could answer that one.

He was Nana's son.

_And I wouldn't have it any other way, _he thought fondly as he pictured his mother's smiling face. No, as long as she was there, he was happy. He didn't need anyone else.

0x0x0

**A/N:** **(1) I do that all the time, knowingly or not…I thought it was a habit that just seemed very…Tsuna. Chewing on your fingers. So yeah, I have an extra-long chapter for you guys to make up for my forever absence. Point out any mistakes I made, and give me suggestions on what you want incorporated into the story! And yes, I know I entered Yamamoto before Gokudera. Sorry. But that's just how this is going to happen, since Reborn isn't even here yet. **

**Oh and just a side note: The names are going to get very confusing. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to switch POV's randomly when I write, so one second it could be 'Takeshi' and then the next it's 'Yamamoto-san', or 'Gokudara-san' to 'Hayato', so on and so forth. Hope you enjoyed-and review peoplez!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys…it's me again. I'm alive. Barely. Oh, man. For those of you who don't know, I had this chapter DONE about a week ago. But FF wouldn't let me copy and paste, and in my mad clicking frustration, I hit cut instead of copy. My beautiful chappie…**

**…WAS GOONNEEE!**

**So I moaned and whined for about a week about how I was "never going to be able to restore the wonder to it's full seven pages of glory" and then got my but in gear to give you all this heap of crap.**

**Sorry.**

**By the by, I haven't even watched all of the KHR series. I just got to the part whether go to Mafia Island…and another baby-that's-not-a-baby pops up. Collenello, or something. In dunno how to spell his name.**

**ANYWAY**

**In the first chapter, someone asked me why Nana turned to goo. I'm sorry that I wasn't clear on that, and it will be fixed ASAP, but she melted because Tsu-chan's cooking was just so yummy. You know how you taste something delicious and you kinda close your eyes and tilt your head and go "hmmmm…" Well, just picture that to the EXTREME.**

**So, yeah. Sorry. Onto the story now.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL, BY THE WAY. JUST HAD TO SAY IT. 3**

0x0x0

Yamamoto Takeshi sighed tiredly as he walked the long, winding path head was tilted up to the sky, admiring the way that the endless stretchg of blue seemed to welcome anything and everything with open arms. But the reverance of the scene was dampened by his gloomy, downcast mood.

He was thinking about Tsuna.

And while normally this wouldn't make him sad, today it did. Well, maybe not sad, but…he didn't know. But it definitely made him feel not-good in one of those ways where you just know that something is wrong.

And something _was _wrong with Tsuna, Takeshi knew that.

For one thing, when Takeshi had helped him get away from the bullies earlier today, he had gotten out of there as soon as possible. Most people would stick around and say thank you or something, but not Tsuna. It was as if, even though Takeshi had just defended him, Tsuna expected the taller boy to hurt him as well. Takeshi knew that Tsuna was thankful and that he wasn't trying to be rude, but something was really, _really _wrong here. Takeshi was one of the nicest guys in Nanimori. Why would Tsuna be afraid of him?

And honestly, it wasn't only today that Takeshi had been worried about the small boy. For someone so innocent, when you actually payed attention to him, Tsuna was surprisingly…jaded.

He didn't talk, which was a category of screwed-up in and of itself. People don't just _stop talking; _there's _always_ a reason behind it. It was actually kind of sad. Takeshi had known the kid for practically his whole life and couldn't remember the sound of his voice, or the sight of his smile. Had Tsuna ever laughed? Even tilted his lips up in a chuckle? A giggle? _Anything?_

Tsuna had this way of hunching his shoulders up if anyone looked at him, making himself look even smaller than he actually was, which was pretty small anyway. That was kind of worrying…did he get bullied a lot? Takeshi almost slapped himself. _Of course he got bullied a lot, you idiot!_

Tsuna flinched an awful lot, too. If you happened to accidentally brush even the slightest bit of his _clothes ("ew!" _people would exclaim, "_Dame-Tsuna touched me!"_)he'd flinch and either freeze in place or scurry away as fast as humanly possible.

He played with his hands a lot too, Yamamoto knew, or, at least, anything in the vicinity small enough to fit in his hands. Fidgeting, twisting the fabric of his shirt around, flipping his pencil back and forth expertly. Anything that he could do, subconsciously, he did.

And lastly, he didn't look anyone in the eyes. _No one, _not even his brother. Who he, coincidentally, seemed the most afraid of.

Kane.

The very thought of Tsuna's brother, surprisingly, sent a shockwave of hate through him. Takeshi was so startled that he actually halted in his tracks. Kane seemed like a nice guy. Why would he suddenly feel such an animosity toward the broad-shouldered boy?

_Because_, whispered a little voice in Takeshi's head, _hey, take a left._

'What?' Takeshi exclaimed mentally, 'why?'

'Oh, Kami-sama,' Takeshi thought, 'I'm talking to myself.' But still he replied, 'No, I'm tired and I want to go home - hey! You stupid feet! Turn the OTHER WAY.' Because, sure enough, his feet had taken the nearest left.

'Who are you anyway?' he asked mentally. Then Takeshi realized how utterly absurd he sounded.

'Oh, god. I'm going crazy. I need to take some meds…my feet aren't even obeying me! They're listening to a voice in my head! _I'm _listening to a voice in my head!'

_Oh, calm down, _the voice sighed in an irritated sort of way. Takeshi didn't listen to it. 'What if I have Multiple Personality disorder? No, I would have had black outs…Maybe ADHD? No, that doesn't even make sense. Now I'm just being paranoid. Paranoid…SCHIZOPHRENIA!'

_SHUT UP! _screamed the voice. Takeshi immediately quieted.

But he was also very, very curious, so he said, 'where are you taking me?' The voice scoffed, _you'll see. Just don't screw this up._

Takeshi's feet had led him into a dingy-looking side street, filled with other side streets all around. A small sound caught his attention - just a tiny scuffle, really - but it sent every alarm hard-wired into his body shrieking with danger. _Get into that side-alley! _The voice called urgently, and Takeshi obeyed.

A choked off sob drilled into his ears as he stood, the sound somehow sounding pitifully weak and pleading and scared and Takeshi almost swiped at the side of his head to just get it to _stop. _It sounded so small, so sad, and he wanted to help whoever was in enough pain to make such a sound.

Footsteps - hurried and urgent, but light, from what Takeshi could tell - drew closer to him. _Slight limp in left leg, _the voice whispered, _heartbeat erratic and wild. From running or fear is uncertain._

Takeshi focused watchful eyes on the scene about to pley out before him, still hidden in the shadows a fair distance away.

**First, **the quiet footsteps grew steadily louder, the limp becoming more pronounced as time drew on.

**Second, **haggard breathing could be heard, along with the previously mentioned racing heart.

**Third, **a mop of chocolate brown hair appeared and a thin, small body followed shortly after, tripping and landing harshly on the grimy concrete in their haste to get away.

**Fourth…**the delicate-looking boy was kicked in the side, his body lurching a couple feet away from the force of the blow.

Takeshi lunged forward and tackled the attacker, screaming in rage. _No one_ had the right to do something like that!

Except, he didn't move at all, and not a sound escaped from his throat. _Patience, _whispered the voice, sounding strained with the effort of keeping Takeshi in place, because it wanted so badly to do the same thing, _you will save him in a moment. Pay attention to your surroundings, to the people. What do you see?_

Takeshi's eyes widened as he saw them. They were identical! Maybe there was a secret cloning operation in that alley, and the kid that fell had had somehow escaped. But, since the scientists had full control over the clones' minds, they ordered him to go after the original! And now he was, struggling not to go back to that wretched place, begging the clone silently to _please let him go._

_GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! _The voice screamed, _I SAID TO PAY ATTENTION, NOT FANTISIZE! _

After a couple of second, repeated blinking, and _actually _paying attention, Takeshi came to his realization. _They're not experiments_, he told himself, not that he could see the resemblance, _they're brothers._

The short, delicate-looking one - still being kicked - had fluffy hair and a frail, skinny stature. Eyes clenched shut, bottom lip bitten in bitter silence, he looked to be the very poster child of _I will not scream, I will not scream._

The one _doing _the kicking was a lot sturdier. He looked taller, too. More muscled. But…he didn't look strong. Not like the smaller one. Mot on the inside, at least. The taller boy, who Takeshi assumed to be the older brother, had slicked back hair that almost looked plastered to his skull, instead of the thick, fluffy mess of the smaller one. He was more tan, like he went outside a lot. Must be a sports player.

Takeshi found that that thought made him ashamed and disgusted at the horrid thing sports had become, if it was people like this playing the games.

And, well, Takeshi, being Takeshi, decided to step in and help the little one on the floor. This guy couldn't be the only example set for sports players, right? Just as he was about to step out of the alley he had hidden in, a name froze him in his tracks.

Or, rather, a nickname.

"Dame-Tsuna, why weren't you home sooner? I had to do the _dishes._" The tall one snarled hatefully.

Dame-Tsuna.

Dam-Tsuna.

Da-Tsuna.

D-Tsuna.

-Tsuna.

Tsuna.

Tsuna.

Tsuna.

_Tsuna!_

Suddenly, The flash of hate Takeshi had felt for Kane earlier made a _lot _more sense.

Takeshi actually felt how his eyes widened, how his muscles locked into place, freezing his foot half-way through taking a step. The air around him entered his lungs in a soft gasp. The larger one was blissfully unaware of Takeshi's presence, and he continued to kick his sibling. Tsuna's head, however, snapped up to his direction, eyes impossibly wide with teror and grief.

Takeshi made his choice right them. Because in that moment, with Tsuna's doe-like eyes driving into the very depths of his soul, Takeshi knew that he would follow this person for the rest of his life. He would die for Tsuna, if need be. But Takeshi needed to act soon, because he could already picture how Tsuna's eyes would look if he didn't. They would dim and lower as Tsuna tucked his head closer to his frail chest in betrayal. His eyes lids would flutter closed in a vain attempt to prevent the welling tears glistening dangerously close to his pale cheeks, just one second away from tracing a path down the gaunt little china-doll face…

The voice whispered, _now_, but Takeshi needed no prompting.

"OI!"

0x0x0

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry if this chapter seemed lacking. I know it doesn't sound great to me. The original was so, SO much better, and I'm so sorry that I couldn't give that to you. It was amazing, and I mourned for it's loss for days. I'M SO SORRY! But yeah…you can have this thing. I just wanted to give you guys ****_something, _****you know? **

**Anyways, thanks for reading. Wow, FF is really messing up the formatting. Sorry guys.**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry if the format is different or anything...my Microsoft Word trial ran out so now I have to use Google Apps. Again, sorry...but anyway. Since my last chapter was complete and utter crap (I just now noticed all of the spelling errors) I'm going to try and make it up to you. Sorta. Maybe. Hahaha...

Don't kill me. I'm just gonna say it now. Don't kill me. Okay, um, the update was so long because I was locked out of my account for some reason...

Anywho...

Um.

Yeah, just please excuse my awkward-ness and read the story. Or not. Whatevz. Okay, I'm going to shut up now...

Um.

0x0x0

Tsuna walked out of class with his head ducked, eyes cast downward. His hands clutched at the messenger bag resting at his shoulder. Instead of just buying a backpack like everyone else, Tsuna carted around a messenger bag. Why, you ask? (Tsuna liked to have conversations with himself. It was fun, and definitely not because he was lonely, thank-you-very-much). Well, first of all, it was much cheaper than a regular backpack. WAY cheaper, in fact, but that wasn't the only reason Tsuna loved the frayed old thing so much.

With a backpack, Tsuna's thin arms were partially separated from his body. Tsuna did a lot of curling up and looking smaller than he was (which was pretty small anyway) throughout the day, and for that reason, he detested backpacks. They got in the way of his arms when he tried to curl up, the stupid things.

The messenger bag's strap, reaching across his frail chest, was an easy thing he could clutch at with both petit hands until his knuckles turned white. It would block his midsection from any blows when he curled up to decrease damage from an attack. Tsuna felt safer when his hands were playing with something, and Tsuna dared to tell himself that he had become something of an expert pencil-twirl-er. Even as he spoke (to himself) Tsuna's nimble fingers were picking away at the frays on his bag strap.

The messenger bag was an amazing choice for Tsuna. Sure, it made him seem weirder, but it was comfortable and that was all that mattered. He packed everything in that bag, from schoolbooks to sketchpads; anything he could possibly need was always right there, bumping gently against his left knee. (Tsuna could go on to talk about the first-aid kit he kept stashed in that bag, too, but he was in a good mood today and didn't feel the need to dampen it).

Speaking of which...Tsuna unclasped the bag (not his bag; nothing was his) gently, watching as the ingenious plastic contraption flung itelf back and opened the bag for him with little more than a twitch of his fingers. _Thank you._ He told it.

It didn't answer.

He smiled anyway.

Tsuna rifled through the bag leisurely for a few minutes. The sketchpad revealed itself to him eventually, tucked between two other conspiring notebooks. Tsuna batted at them playfully, sending a mental, _I've always been best at hide and seek_, before flipping through the sketchbook pages. He twirled a pencil expertly through his fingers as his mind went to work, mentally mapping and re-mapping out his next piece.

Tsuna, unknowingly gnawing at the bottom of his lip, set to work. His pencil glided over the endless white in effortless, experienced curves. He added a line here, erased a smudge there, and pulled back some hours later, going over his work with a critical eye. Then Tsuna went over it again, dabbing at that spot and tweaking at this design just so.

When he was satisfied, Tsuna wedged the pencil behind his ear and gathered his things. Glancing at the sky (wow, it's already six) Tsuna set home to help mama cook dinner. He tried to leave quietly, he really did. But he was no match for Hibari-san's informatives.

"Herbivore."

Tsuna flinched.

"What are you still doing on school grounds? I don't like crowding."

_ Just slowly turn around and maybe he won't kill you, Tsuna_, Tsuna thinks optimistically.

"I will bite you to death if you do not answer me."

Another flinch, but Tsuna won't say anything. He can't.

Steely eyes narrowed and chocolate ones widen in guilt. Hibari-san had seemed to be in a good mood! He didn't mean to ruin it! He had just wanted to draw! Tsuna tried to convey this through his eyes. The angry glint told him it didn't work.

Tsuna started panicking._ Oh, no, he thought, Hibari-san is going to bite me to death and then i'll be late home, and mama will have to cook dinner alone and worry and Kane is going to_-

"Hn. You aren't worth my time. Go home, herbivore."

And Hibari-san turned heel and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Tsuna blinked once, twice, three times in rapid succession, and tried to organize his thought as if he were taking notes, as he had always done when he was puzzled.

_1) Hibari-san hadn't bitten him to death._

Okay, that was fairly easy to figure out. He was still conscious after all.

_2) Why?_

Slightly more difficult, but still easy. Hibari-san had said it himself; he wasn't worth the time to beat up, because he was so weak.

_3)But Hibari-san had unnecessarily told him to go home. Hibari-san didn't like talking more that he needed to, so why would he deliberately order Tsuna to leave?_

Tricky...but Hibari-san probably thought he was too stupid to know to go home without being directly told.

Tsuna was a part of Nanimori, after all, and as such, he was Hibari-san's responsibility. or something. Nobody really understood Hibari-san's dedication to Nanimori. But then again, as long as Hibari-san knows, what does it matter what others think?

Feeling a lot less confused and a lot more happy, Tsuna took the liberty to look up at the sun. His happiness drained as fast as the blood that was rushing out of his face, because there was no sun to look at. In fact, the moon shone mockingly at him for forgetting the time..

Oh, Kane was going to be so mad...

Tsuna ran as fast as his skinny legs could and then some, cutting into alleys and taking every short-cut he knew of to get back home. It actually reminded him of a song, and Tsuna almost giggled hysterically aloud. He was still dizzy from the blood that had deserted his head, and running on top of that could not be good for his health, but Tsuna was in panic-mode so he didn't care. He began mentally singing the lyrics, not quite up to singing in public and not having the air in his lungs to go so anyway.

_Just slow me, slow me down_

_Slow me down, slow me down_

_Rushing and racing and running in circles_

_Moving so fast I'm forgetting my purpose_

_Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning, getting nowhere_

_My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic_

_Pace of the world I just wish I could stop it_

_Try to appear like I've got it together, I'm falling apart_

_Save me, somebody take my hand and lead me_

_Slow me down, don't let love pass me by_

_Just show me how 'cause I'm ready to fall_

_Slow me down, don't let me live a lie_

_Before my life flies by_

_I need you to slow me down_

_Sometimes I fear that i might disappear_

_In the blur of fast forward I falter again_

_Forgetting to breathe, I need to sleep, I'm getting nowhere_

_All that I've missed I see in the reflection_

_Passed me while I wasn't paying attention_

_Tired of rushing, racing and running, I'm falling apart_

_Tell me, oh, won't you take my hand and lead me_

_Slow me down, don't let love pass me by_

_Just show me 'cause I'm ready to fall_

_Slow me down, don't let me live a lie_

_Before my life flies by_

_I need you to slow me down_

_The noise of the world is getting me caught up_

_Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it_

_Just need to breathe, somebody please, slow me down_

Tsuna giggled again, because it was just so funny and he was going to hurt so much tonight he was already screaming and breaking and look, there goes his sanity.

After a good ten minutes running, Tsuna knew that he was close to his home. Just a few more minutes, he thought. He prayed to Kami-sama that Kane hadn't already washed the dishes - and that if he had, he was already in bed.

But, as always, Tsuna's (non-existent) luck turned sour.

"Back so late, little brother?"

Tsuna shivered at the deceptive calmness in that voice, slowly turning to peer over his shoulder at Kane.

"You should have gotten home sooner," his brother murmured almost to himself, slipping a very sharp-looking knife from his pocket. It glinted dangerously in the moonlight as Kane finished the only warning Tsuna would get, "maybe this wouldn't have happened."

It was only then that Tsuna took account of his surroundings. The alley's dim, grimy walls echoed with the ping of water dropping. Rats squeaked from the sidelines as crumbling pieces of the walls fell on them as they tried to scurry away. The smell of death hung thick in the air above Tsuna's head, and he knew if he didn't get out of there, he'd soon be floating up there with it. Kane took one slow, exaggerated step towards him, and Tsuna ran.

0x0x0

Um. Yeah. Sorry for any mistakes...so. Yes, I did part of the last chapter in Tsuna's POV. Why? I have no idea where I'm going with this story and I need time to actually make a plot and all that annoying writer stuff. So. In the meantime, allow me to throw a shiny quote from one of my favorite fanfiction authors and distract you with it.

_"You know what the best thing about fanfiction?_

_It's really not all about the plots or the sex or the head canons that people put into it, it's the fact its an escape from reality, for both the reader and the writer. I've learned that reading a story made by other people are individuals out there just as lonely as you, sitting in front of their computer too. They just want someone to share their ideas with, everyone likes someone to listen. I think that's why writers love reviews so much. It shows that you cared enough to read, that you showed effort and acknowledged their loneliness whether it was good or bad. Fanfiction puts a stop to reality and tells you, hey, come read me, I'll give you something to laugh, cry, smile about if you'll listen."_

_-Jikage_

Yeah. Jikage's awsome-they have some KHR fanfiction, too. Well, it's actually mostly KHR fanfiction...I've only read Bestialized, but it has very very mature stuffs in the first chapter *cough*GraphicNon-con*cough* so be careful if you want to read it. Um. Yeah, hopefully the next chapter is better and longer...this was really just a filler...so yeah. Sorry bout all of my self-bashing, it's probably getting annoying. Heheheh...um. **Oh yeah, the song is Slow me down by Emmy Rossum.** Great song. Go check it out! Okay, I'm leaving. Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW! (Hopefully you'll be inspired with Jikage's quote).

Bye!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, I have decided to face reality. My updates will never ever be regular. I will be changing my profile to include this information. Um, I also fixed some mistakes in Ch. 3. Spelling errors and things that could have been worded better and whatnot...um, so yeah. Next chapter, anyone? Oh yeah, I have no idea where the voice talking to Yamamoto came from, so we're all just going to say that it's his swordsman instincts somehow taking up residence in his mind, because I'm only on, like, episode thirty of the anime and I have no idea who Asari really is (sorry!) and I'm really broke and can't buy the manga or even really just go to a place and take it off the shelf and read it because I have no time so...**

**Oh! And don't worry about pairings...I have decided to keep it gen for now because really, I cannot see anyone in this story smexing it up with anybody so...maybe some brotherly fluff between characters once they get to know Tsuna? I dunno...**

Tsuna didn't get far, of course. He was small and weak, and even if he was fast, his aniki was faster when his mind was set on something. Tsuna ran about thirty feet before his brother caught up to him, thanks to Tsuna's natural clumsiness. The small boy's first thought was, _man this is cliché, _but he had no time to contemplate this, as Kane kicked him in the side. Tsuna's eyes flew wide open as he gasped for breath, somehow playing dead at the same time, hoping that Kane would leave him alone if he was still and quiet.

Tsuna really should have known better, as he was kicked a few more times, because he lived with Kane and knew that the older male just loved taking advantage of the weak, but _ow_, this really hurt! So as he was being 'punished', Tsuna decied to muse to keep his mind off of the pain. It had worked in the past, after all. But what to think about?

...Well, duh. Tsuna contemplated face-palming right then and there. Why not think about Kane? His aniki wasn't always like this. Tsuna knew that going after someone with a knife because they didn't do the dishes was a bit...extreme. But, as he said, aniki wasn't like this a lot. It only happened once or twice every few months, when Kane just couldn't handle just slapping Tsuna on occasion or giving him little beat downs every couple of days. It was kind of like pent up violence seeping through the cracks of a dam...and then the dam breaks and the violence comes pouring down. Unfortunately, Tsuna was a prime target. He lived with Kane, for one, and the older boy could just seek him out when needed.

He was small and he was weak and most importantly, he was independent to an almost detrimental degree. Meaning, if Kane ever hurt him too badly, Tsuna wouldn't seek out help.

It was probably one of his worst qualities.

But he just couldn't help it! He didn't want to impose on people and be a burden – he did enough of that by accident, he couldn't go around doing it on purpose!

After a few minutes of letting his mind wonder, Tsuna decided to let himself peek into reality – and that's when he heard it. A choked -off gasp assaulted his ears and Tsuna's head automatically snapped to the source of the sound. There was a boy there – was that the Nanimori uniform? - eyes wide with shock, foot hovering above the ground, as if he had been paralyzed when he was trying to take a step.

Tsuna really couldn't help the hope that surfaced in his own eyes, and he felt terribly guilty, because he could see that hope spurring the boy in the shadows on and he was going to help poor, weak little Tsuna and he was going to get _hurt-_

_"_Oi!"

_Nooooooo! Don't do it – I'm not worth it – run away! He has a weapon! Run _away!

Tsuna woke up almost in tears. _Oh thank Kami. It was a dream – calm down Tsuna, he didn't get hurt, you got home without punishment, and now you're going to go to school and pretend last night didn't happen, as you're sure the boy will, because willingly seeking you out for anything other than bullying is social suicide and the boy is too nice to be a bully so _pull yourself together and help Mama cook, you lazy idiot! _And do try to think in proper sentences. Maybe that way you'll do better in Japanese class with Nakogura-san._

It was comforting to talk to himself as if it was someone else talking to him. It made Tsuna feel like he had a friend – and the best part was no one knew you were slightly insane, because when you're mute, you can have these conversations with yourself and the folders and the walls and you toes silently, so yatta for mute-ness and please get a punctuation helper, Tsuna. Like, now. You need it.

Tsuna batted at the air playfully, since swatting someone that doesn't exist is pretty darn difficult and not worth the effort right now.

He goes downstairs, helping Mama cook breakfast in his overly-large gray hoodie that he just loves so much that he's already put it on, and when Kane comes down about a half an hour later, he'll get served home-made waffles drenched in syrup just the way he likes it. He will have no idea that his failure of a little brother made most of it while his momma settled down with a cup of coffee and a bleary-eyes thank you to said failure of a little brother, grateful tat she doesn't have to cook so early.

He'll have no idea, because his little brother will already be gone, bags packed ans gray hoodie's weight (I really do love you so much) settled comfortable on his shoulders. Tsuna will be at school by the time his older brother steps out of the door, playing his daily game of cat-and-mouse with the early-rising bullies that prowl the school in the morning, curled up in a new little nook that he found in the school earlier, notebook out and open, writing about last night's encounter once he had gotten into the safety (hah! There is no such thing) of his own home.

It would not be until later, after school, that the bullies would catch him. Tsuna had been avoiding Yamamoto-san – that was the nice boy's name! - all day, and it was a surprisingly difficult task and he was just so _tired _that the bullies had had an easy time snagging him by the hood of his oh-so-loved overly-large hoodie. Unfortunately, this scene just happened to play out in front of a large group of the student body. Being near people, by itself, was enough to make Tsuna panic. But being touched? Being looked at by so many eyes? It was enough to make Tsuna go insane, and so he wriggled and writhed and slipped out of his hoodie (noooo, I miss you!) but one of the larger kids hoodked a tree-trunk sized arm around his waist and foiled his plans of escape.

He gave his best glare to the tall, hulking figure currently keeping him immobile, but paled when he realized his bag was in the arms of another boy.

_NO! _He though hysterically, _What if they find-_

And find it they did. The drabble he had written that morning in the nook was passed around and read by the surrounding student body, being looked over by what were probably hateful eyes (he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away from his worn-out shoes). He was being glanced, at murmured about, and while Tsuna could normally stand that, they were _close_ this time. Right there. _Looking_ at him.

He committed his second act of violence, and while ashamed of himself later, couldn't bring himself to care right now. Quick as lightning, Tsuna clamped his jaw onto tree-trunk boy's lower arm and felt himself being shoved away with a pained yowl from the bitten kid. Tsuna stumbled, righted himself with more grace than he thought he possessed, and tore out of the circle of school children like a bat out of hell.

In that moment, the last person passed the drabble looked over it with furious eyes.

"What," Yamamoto snarled, unoccupied fist clenching, "did I tell you about messing with Tsuna?"

_When you write, the words flow out of your pencil and onto the blank expanse of white, as if the sands of fluidity have decided to let themselves slip through your fingers.__  
__When you write, you feel as if the entire world is at peace in that one, single moment. As if, maybe if you held the pencil long enough, no sound would ever reach your ears.__  
__Because maybe if you just keep writing the yellingscreamingshouting loudness will stop._

_Because, maybe if you keep writing, (just keep writing, it's okay, just keep writing) all of the arguments and the disagreements and the angry (furious), hurtful (heartbreaking) words will crease to exist.__  
__Maybe not.__  
__But that's okay, too, because you like to dream, and you like to hope, and the never-ending battle of wills (still so loud) will end one day.__  
__It will.__  
__Because, yes, she could have aborted you.__  
__And because, yes, he has now decided to "break" you (your spirit)._

_And even though you don't understand (why torment a child that you have already sufficiently broken?) you don't question his motives (it's best not to) but you will still fight, in your own silent way, so maybe you're not so broken after all.__  
__H__e knows this.__  
__And you think that it's okay that he hates you (they all do, and you're used to it by now), because maybe (maybe) you can understand.__  
__Because maybe (just maybe) you hate you, too._

… _...  
__When you write, things just seem to fall into place, like long-broken puzzle pieces finally being fixed and secured back into their specially-made place in the world (you know, that one that you don't have).__  
__When you speak, it isn't like this.__  
__Because maybe uneasiness and anxiety work together, dancing on your tongue, bogging it down with their unnecessary weight, and maybe their friend, uncertainty, clogs your throat and makes it fold in on itself like a fragile house of cards blown in by a strong wind, tightening and constricting so that if any words at all reach the surface of the negative they're drowning in, they are choked and panicked and unintelligible.__  
__And maybe that's why you never told.__  
__And maybe that's why you never will._

**A/N: So hi. Um, I'm sorry that I've been so inactive lately. It's just, life and plot bunnies and some more life, y'know? Um, anyway, I'm also sorry for the run-on-ness of this chapter. It's just really late and I'm in that mood and I kind of think of this version of Tsuna as a drabbley kind of person, y'know? Anyway, the whole thing at the bottom after Takeshi gets mad at the people and is all like "What did I tell you about messing with Tsuna" is what Tsu-chan wrote in the little nook that morning. Takeshi is was also the last person to read the thingy, if that was too subtle of a hint I'm sorry.**

**POINTLESS AUTHOR THING STARTING NOW: ****So I actually wrote that little thing Tsuna wrote a while back. My family is just dysfunctional and likes to make me cry so let's just leave it at that. **

**See you next time!**

**Ja!**


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